


The Summerland

by Nerd_of_Camelot



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Happy Ending, Loving Marriage, Other, Tim is a Pinata Gardener, Viva Pinata Crossover/Mash-Up, as slow burn as a fic this short can be, don't ask bro, i wrote this for my fiance but you can read it if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:17:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21964834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_of_Camelot/pseuds/Nerd_of_Camelot
Summary: Tim woke up in a field, and it wasn't the first time, but this time things seemed... Better.He decided not to question any of it.And if the neighbor is cute, then, well, he's not going to question that either.
Relationships: Timothy "Tim" W./Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Aight if self-shipping aint your thing, pack it up or try to stick it out without being rude, because I wrote this solely for the benefit of my fiance, who self-ships with Tim. Rude comments will be deleted.

It is sweltering out here.

The sun is beating down with a vengeance, humid air stirring up from rains the night before every time too light a breeze filtered through the area. The harder, faster winds bring a distant sort of coolness―it is not enough to dry the sweat from his brow, or keep him from sweating even more, but it is a reprieve nonetheless. A welcome change, no matter how brief.

Pausing, the man swipes at the moisture on his brow with the back of his arm.

It does not help.

It does little but spread the moisture around, but there is the briefest moment of a breeze that cools the droplets and brings a little bit of relief. He clings to that brief relief, then returns to his task, hefting the ancient-looking shovel up over his shoulder and swinging it down. The hard, dry earth cracks and is swept easily away to reveal the soft, dark earth beneath it.

He’s not sure how the ground is so  _ dry _ when it rained just last night.

He chooses not to question it.

He keeps at it, breaking the dry earth down into powder and sweeping it away until the full expanse of his so-called garden is free of any of the sandy-looking soil. The powder has absorbed back into the fertile soil beneath it, soft and ready to be seeded.

He finishes in the late afternoon and it’s still sweltering and he resents and rejoices in all the hard work in equal measures. He resents the sweat and the fact that his clothes are soaked and dirty, and they are all he has right now. He resents that it took so long, that it’s still so hot. But he is glad to have had something to do, that he spent so long having a worthy distraction from the static in his head. That he’d been able to focus on something with enough intent to push the bad feelings and the memories out of his head―it was a blessing he’d gladly take.

He can’t bring himself to go inside, go to bed, just yet.

He has not reached the bone-deep exhaustion it will take for him to sleep peacefully, and there is still so much left he can do. So much he can distract himself with until he is too tired to think.

He does not know how he got here; he does not care to ask of the universe why  _ now _ it has given him this out. He doesn’t know and he doesn’t care, and he will gladly take this excuse to get away from all the bad memories. To get away from reminders. He is here and he has only the clothes on his back and this house and garden and shovel and watering can. And that is a good thing that he will not allow himself to ruin. To look too deeply into.

As the sun sinks lower in the sky, starts to dip below the horizon, he seeds the garden he has spent all day making ready for this exact task. He walks in slow strides, shakes the bag with gentle motions, realizes with a start that some of the strangely animate piñatas have taken residence in the dirt. What are these ones called? He knows they have a name―they are treated as regular living creatures. All the different types have names.

But he does not know what these worm-like piñatas are called, and so he simply calls them worms.

He makes his way around them rather than bothering either of them, watching his step carefully to avoid stepping on them. There are two. They are bright orange with red and green patterns, and hard to miss even in the dying light of late afternoon.

He decides he’ll have to find a way to research them. He cannot call them worms forever. That is not what they are.

(Later, when he searches the house, he will find a book, and the book will call these piñatas  _ Whirlms. _ But that is later.)

He leaves the dirt that they inhabit be, for now, and seeds the area around them and thinks maybe he’ll seed where they were when he gets up in the morning. Or maybe he’ll leave it, as they seem fond of the dirt. He will find out later, when he knows more, when he is less focused on the task of seeding, sowing grass in the barren expanse that will become a garden. What little he knows is from the woman, Leafos, and he knows that many piñatas will prefer the grass over the dirt, and he’d like to have the grass, himself, anyway. Grass is prettier than blank, empty dirt.

He hums quietly as he finishes up, and it is dark, and he is tired.

He treks quietly into the house, and strips off his clothes and throws them in the sink, and he runs water over them and scrubs them with a bar of soap he found in the bathroom. It will have to do. He hangs them to dry in front of the house, and hopes that no one saw him and that no one will steal the only clothes he has.

He takes a shower and has to scrub himself with the same bar of soap, and he drips dry in the tub.

It is very late, and he is tired.

He folds himself into a ball in the small bed and swaddles himself in the scratchy blankets and it is cooler now that the sun is down and he is glad.

The last thing he remembers before waking up out in the dry, barren field late yesterday afternoon is laying in yet another hotel wishing things could be different. Wishing that he could finally have a break, a reprieve. Ever since Jay had dredged all of the bad shit back up he’s not known a moment’s peace of mind. And then he woke up in the cracked, dry dirt, with Leafos.

She had smiled and explained things to him and sent him inside to sleep, but he didn’t know how he got here. He didn’t ask.

There’s no point asking, not really. He won’t question it too deeply.

He sleeps.

He sleeps and he does not think about the circumstances that dropped him here.


	2. Chapter 2

There is not terribly much that can be done in the garden today.

After Tim retrieves his dry clothes from the front of the house and slips back into them, he pops out briefly to assess the state of his grass seeds. There are already sprouts and he doesn’t think that is how it works back home but he sees no reason to question it. The little worms are still here, of course, and they are apparently happy to see him when he approaches.

He kneels down and they wiggle right up to him and he strokes their little paper mache bodies with his hands. He’s careful with them―he doesn’t know how much pressure he can put on them without hurting them. But they are happy nonetheless.

And he does his best to keep them that way.

Gentleness, kindness, are not in his nature. He was not born kind, was not born gentle.

Or maybe he was.

But he was not  _ raised _ that way.

He was raised in a world of bitterness and anger and hurt. He was raised to pull all of his tender pieces close, sequester them away in his chest and keep them safe. He was raised to push and pull and fight, to lash out when he is hurt and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

He was raised to protect himself,  _ violently, _ and he has always followed that. He never had a reason not to.

But that is what makes now different. That is what makes him stronger in the present than he was in the past.

For these little worms, he will be gentle. For his life here, he will be kind.

It will not be easy. The fight is carved into his bones, the anger a never-waning fire in his gut. But he will be kind. If he has to carve that into his bones over top of the fight, then so be it.

He holds and strokes the odd little worms for a while, and he promises himself that he will be kind to them. When they wiggle away from him he stands. The grass has sprouted just that much further in the time he spent with them. That is strange, but he still will not question it out loud.

He thinks he should spend today exploring his new home. He’s not keen on venturing out of his garden, taking the rather long trek through the sparse forest into town. He is not keen on meeting his new neighbors. He thinks he’ll avoid them for as long as he can. It’s not as if he has money to spend in the shops yet, after all. No point in getting acquainted until he has it. He’s heard some of the store owners are a little… Abrasive to non-paying customers.

He quietly returns to his new house and he spends several hours looking around.

Eventually he finds something of an encyclopedia of the types of piñatas he is likely to encounter. He flips through it until he finds the worms that have decided they like his garden enough to live there. He sees they’re called Whirlms.

He thinks that’s cute.

He researches some of the other piñatas and sees that if he allows the Whirlms to “romance” each other, he can convince a piñata called a Sparrowmint to live in the garden. The provided picture in the encyclopedia makes him want one. The bird piñatas, they… They remind him of Jay.

And as angry as he very consistently is at Jay, he misses him.

He hates that he misses him, but it’s hard to not miss someone who spent so much time living with him. It’s even harder when that person is, well,  _ dead. _

Tim sighs, and he hears a bit of a commotion, and he goes outside to see some kind of stout little midget kicking around some mud just outside his garden. He frowns.

He leaves the house and when he asks just what the hell the little thing is doing it chucks mud at him and laughs. He’s able to avoid getting splattered with mud, thank goodness, but some of his resolve to be kind has eroded already. It’s something that will take effort, and he takes a deep breath to pull that resolve back. Drop-kicking small human-shaped creatures into the forest is  _ mean. _

And probably illegal.

He’s tired of being a criminal.

He shoos the thing. It laughs at him. He frowns and grabs his shovel, thinking maybe he’ll just scoop up some mud and throw it back.

What happens is that the thing throws another glob of mud at him, and he swings the shovel, and he splatters the glob all over the thing’s ugly mask. It does not seem to particularly enjoy that, and promptly leaves.

He’ll take what he can get.

Frowning, he turns to look at the Whirlms, and one of them promptly does a backflip.

He stifles a laugh at the unexpected action, and feels lighter for it.

He walks his shovel back to the house and leans it on the fence, turning to survey his now very green garden. There is still a patch where there is only dirt, and he does not mind that. The Whirlms seem happy enough as they crawl around, and they are cute. He likes them.

He leans himself against the fence and tries to think of something else to do.

It is getting hot out here again already, and he still has no money so he still cannot go into town.

He thinks, maybe, he should try growing things and selling them in town.

But that would require seeds, and the only seeds he has are grass seeds.

He wrinkles his nose, but doesn’t let himself get too annoyed. There’s little to be done about the lack of money or seeds, and he will likely have to talk to a neighbor sooner or later anyway. He may as well ask about seeds when he finally does that.

For now, though, he just watches his garden and thinks.

He is glad that his mind is not just static now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> important note for this: it's kind of a very weird blend of classic viva pinata and trouble in paradise? like i've taken what i remembered/liked from classic and kept it while a lot of it is very much trouble in paradise based. like some pinatas' resident requirements lol  
> and since tim isn't an Omniscient Player outside the game it doesn't work exactly the same and a lot of stuff is totally up to the pinatas


	3. Chapter 3

On the first day of his second week in this place, a green Squazzil runs headlong into his yard and immediately clambers up his pantleg and then his shirt, perching on his shoulder.

He is thrown off, because he does not own a Squazzil and he especially does not own a green one. This one must belong to one of his neighbors.

Before he can think to do anything at all, least of all go to look for its owner, he hears someone half-yelling in the distance.

“Lock-eee!” The voice calls, “Where did you run off to this time?”

The Squazzil squeaks and shuffles on his shoulder and he reaches up to steady it so it won’t fall when he starts walking off toward the voice. Chasing voices never got him anywhere before, but this is different. Nothing fosters trust in neighbors like returning lost pets or helping them look for them.

“Lock-eee!”

He makes it halfway through before he almost runs straight into someone―they’re a little shorter than he is, with shaggy brown hair and a blue t-shirt and lightly sunburnt cheeks. He backs up, and they look at each other.

The person gasps, then, “Lock-e!”

“Ran right up my leg.” He says to them, carefully removing the Squazzil from his shoulder and offering it to them.

“She’s a brat like that, yeah,” The person agrees, accepting the slightly squirming Squazzil and tucking her against his chest, “Sorry about that.” They smile, “I’m Tobi, it’s nice meeting you. You must be the new neighbor.”

“Tim,” He offers in return, “... Been here about a week, yeah.”

Tobi grins, “Still starting out on this… Don’t envy you for that, man. Need any help? I’ve got extra seeds and some piñatas I was going to sell anyway.”

Tim hesitates, but smiles a bit after a moment, “If it’s not any trouble.”

“Oh, it’s not.” Tobi assures him, “C’mon, right this way.”

And Tim goes home with seeds and two Flutterscotches and some food because he’s pretty much been eating what he can find falling off trees in the forest for the last week. He’s smiling by then and he feels pretty okay even if he’s got a sunburn starting. He almost feels…

Kind of at home.

Definitely feels like he has a friend, at least.

He carefully plants the seeds he was given while the Flutterscotches and the Whirlms get to know each other, and more or less stands by with the watering can because he doesn’t know how fast they’ll all grow but Tobi mentioned they needed frequent watering until they finished growing.

It’s more information than he’s gotten about planting and growing things yet, so he appreciates it immensely.

And by the time the sun is going down, he’s got a few flowers growing near his house and some fruits and veggies sort of laying around while he finishes up with the other plants. He gathers up the fruits and veggies once he gets a chance and takes them inside. He can sell them tomorrow.

And he makes a quick dinner, feeling full for the first time since he got here, and then goes to check on his piñatas one last time for the night. The Whirlms have curled up in their dirt patch to sleep for the night, as far as he can tell, and the Flutterscotches are, well, sleeping on top of his flowers.

He decides he’d better turn in, too.

So he heads back inside, showers and washes his clothes and hangs them out to dry, and goes to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

He goes into town the next morning to sell off his produce, and he’s not fond of this Costalot lady, but he’ll deal. He only has to see her when he needs something or needs to sell something, so it will be fine.

He can be kind.

He stops to talk to Tobi on the way home, and Lochy (that’s the Squazzil’s name, and it took him a while to figure out exactly how it was meant to be spelled) climbs right up him again. She bumps her face into his cheek and it makes him smile, which makes Tobi laugh.

He heads home once it starts getting hot and Tobi starts getting busy, and to his surprise finds a very,  _ very _ big, fat bee hanging out by his flowers. It’s colored, so he knows it belongs to someone and…

That’s a Buzzlegum, right? He thinks that’s what they’re called… And well, he’s pretty sure he’s met its requirements for it to live in his garden.

Huh.

Looks like he has a Buzzlegum now.

He pauses before heading inside to pat it, and it buzzes at him and bumps its head into his hand.

Cute.

He plants the seeds he’d gotten last night and some he’d bought from Costalot and spends the day tending to the new plants while his piñatas do their thing around him. The Buzzlegum and his Flutterscotches don’t seem to know exactly what to think of him yet, but they’re warming up and the Whirlms stay just far enough out of his way that he doesn’t have to worry about stepping on them.

It’s funny that these strange animals seem to understand him better than most people.

The plants grow and he takes the produce inside.

He pops his head out to see Tobi, who grins and makes his way over to his door.

“See you got a new buzzy friend.” Tobi says, by way of greeting.

Tim can’t help smiling. “He was here when I got home.”

“He just lives here now,” Tobi says, amused and almost sounding like he’s making a joke.

Tim wonders what he was doing before he got here. If he got here the same way. If there was someone he was missing.

“Anyways,” Tobi says, before he can think too hard on it, “Wanted to invite you over for dinner! You up for it?”

“Sure,” Tim agrees, because he has no reason not to go. He likes Tobi well enough.

And they walk to Tobi’s house together and they talk―well, mostly Tobi talks. Tim listens and nods along, because Tobi has obviously been here for quite some time and he knows a lot. And it’s also, though Tim won’t admit it, kind of cute and very funny when he sets in on a spirited ramble about Lochy’s antics and his Custacean, Prized Boy, falling asleep every time he moves more than a couple of inches in any direction.

Tim thinks he should probably be naming his piñatas.

He decides at that moment that his Whirlms are now named Wiggle and Waggle, and he will not be embarrassed or take any criticism for his naming choices.

He doesn’t have any ideas for his other three piñatas yet, but he’ll figure it out.

He and Tobi have a nice dinner, regardless of Lochy running around their legs while they eat and trying to jump straight onto the table at any given moment. Tobi distracts her halfway through the meal by leaning back to dig a hazelnut out of a cabinet and toss it into his living room.

She goes after it  _ instantly _ and they finish their meal in peace.

They talk until it’s late enough that Tim really needs to go home and go to bed, and they bid each other goodnight.


	5. Chapter 5

The days and weeks fly by, if Tim is honest. Now that he has something to do every day other than just watching his piñatas and fending off the occasional mask-wearing midget who tries to cause trouble, he finds time passing and himself relaxing. The constant mind-numbing labor helps exhaust him into sleeping well every night, and talking to Tobi every day or so when they aren’t particularly busy is… Nice.

He ends up with a house for his Whirlms, which he has put near their dirt patch, and houses for his other piñatas as well.

He has three Flutterscotches, two Buzzlegums, and his two Whirlms when he finally sees it―a Sparrowmint in a nearby tree, watching his garden curiously.

Later that day it swoops in for a visit, hopping around and interacting with his piñatas, and he starts to get kind of nervous when it looks at his Whirlms for too long. He know the book says they eat Whirlms when they want or need to romance, so he feels somewhat vindicated in his worry.

Still, it doesn’t do anything to them.

And it hangs around for a couple of days until suddenly he’s receiving an egg delivery for his Whirlms and the Sparrowmint is suddenly in his garden and swiftly turning brown.

He names it Jay immediately.

Wiggle and Waggle and their little one, who he’s tempted to call Squiggle, don’t seem concerned by Jay’s presence, so he relaxes. Meanwhile, Daisy, Lily, and Poppy (his Flutterscotches) have thankfully not decided to romance, and neither have his Buzzlegums, Honey and Buttercup. He doesn’t think he could handle more of any of them.

Tobi mentions to him in passing that if he gets a honey hive for his Buzzlegums and keeps daisies planted, they’ll produce honey for him, and honey is a pretty valuable resource so it would be a good way to make money.

Tim takes the information to heart and saves up for a while to get what he needs.

He gives the first jar of honey they produce to Tobi, mostly as thanks for the tip and for being so kind to him since the day they met. Tobi accepts it after a minor argument which is primarily Tobi not wanting to take anything he had had to save up to produce and Tim insisting he wants him to have it. And after he accepts, he starts talking about baking, and Tim listens.

He thinks he might like Tobi too much.

He decides he doesn’t care.

After all, who is there to judge him? And what harm could come of it?

He sits and feeds Jay seeds while the sun goes down and he thinks. Lets the little bird hop into his lap, pats his head and lays his hand on his neck. Jay trills happily, gets comfy, and falls asleep there. And Tim feels…

At peace.


	6. Chapter 6

He thinks he may have been here about a year by the time he finally gets the courage to say something to Tobi about how he feels. He’d realized it much earlier, of course. Had realized it and hesitated. Held back on saying anything for fear of losing the peace they had.

He likes being around Tobi, and he does not want to lose that.

Still, it has to come out eventually, and if he doesn’t simply come out and say it it’ll come out as a slip, and he’s not keen on that. So he gets his courage up.

He plants a few flowers he knows Tobi likes, grabs a jar of honey, and tells himself to keep it simple. Picks the flowers when they’re grown, takes a breath, and goes to Tobi’s house.

Lochy is waiting for him at the property line, bouncing and squeaking. She runs circles around his feet as he walks to Tobi’s door and bounces up onto a platform next to it that he’d built for her before Tim ever got here.

Tim hesitates.

And then he knocks, because there is no need to be hesitant. If Tobi doesn’t feel the same way it’s not as if it will be the end of the world. Tobi is very much like Brian in that he is fully accepting of Tim and his occasionally abrasive personality. He will be gentle if he does not feel the same. Tim is certain of this.

Tobi returns what gentleness he receives.

Tobi answers, mid-way through putting aloe on his cheeks and nose to ease his newest sunburn, and Tim can see his freckles beneath the light sheen of it. He had always thought those were cute. And Tobi’s face breaks out in a smile when he sees Tim―it’s instantaneous. No hesitation.

“Hey!” He greets, cheerily.

“Hey,” Tim greets in return, smiling. He can feel his cheeks burning as he offers up the bouquet of flowers and jar of honey, “... These are for you. I… Need to tell you something.”

Tobi takes the items without an argument, cocking his head to the side. “Okay?”

“I think I’m in love with you.” Tim said, and felt considerably lighter at just spitting it out instead of beating around the bush.

Tobi blinks. Blinks again.

And then his whole face turns red regardless of his sunburn and he nearly drops the bouquet and honey. He shoves them onto Lochy’s perch, heedless of Lochy’s presence there, and throws his arms around Tim’s neck. Lochy, for her part, just squeaks indignantly at the intrusion and, tellingly, does not knock either item off of her perch as she’s prone to doing.

Tim hugs Tobi back, of course, and when Tobi pulls back he kisses Tim right on the mouth.

Tim is not complaining in the slightest.

He smiles, a little unsure, and Tobi grins back.

“I love you too!” Tobi says, without hesitation.

Tim can’t help his small smile turning into a grin, and after only half a second of thinking it through, he kisses Tobi and squeezes him lightly. Tobi giggles, honestly  _ giggles, _ and Tim has never heard a cuter noise.

The blue-eyed man squeezes him back, pecking him on the cheek once their lips disconnect, and tucks his face into his neck.

This, Tim thinks, is good.

This, Tim thinks, is worth all that he had to go through to get this.


	7. Chapter 7

It takes some doing, but eventually they manage to sort of combine their gardens into one huge mega-garden, and turn Tim’s house into something of a storage shed. Tim, obviously, moves in with Tobi and Lochy. He takes Jay with him, of course, because that little bird is his favorite (though he’s loathe to admit it) and Jay usually sleeps in his house anyway, much like Lochy usually sleeps in Tobi’s.

His other piñatas mingle with Tobi’s, and they all seem to get along famously.

Tim has never felt happier in his life.

Jay and Lochy turn into something of a mischief duo, as Jay can reach things that Lochy can’t and Lochy, for lack of better terms, is a bad influence. Tim doesn’t mind, though. They keep things interesting.

And he and Tobi work well together, and Tobi fills Tim’s days with noise even while they’re working and even when he’s not talking specifically to Tim. He talks to his piñatas, mostly, or sings, or hums. They laugh and joke around and kiss each other in passing and Tim is comfortable.

Very comfortable.

He feels like he’s at home for the first time in his life.

And it is not just Tobi that makes him feel this way―he’s not that naive. He knows a lot of it is knowing that this place is very much  _ his _ and he’s in no danger, and he can be himself. He has fun every day,  _ smiles _ every day. He feels fulfilled and whole and only part of that is due to the fact he’s in a relationship.

Still―that’s not to say Tobi doesn’t make him immensely happy all on his own. He does. Tim’s not even sure what to do with all the things Tobi makes him feel.

It’s just that that’s not the main reason he feels at home here.

Tobi teaches him to cook, eventually, or at least cook better than he could before. They bake together sometimes, too, and between the two of them there’s very few things they ever have to save up for. There’s food on the table three times a day every day, snacks whenever they want them. There’s a warm, soft bed and nice blankets, and peace and quiet when its needed.

It’s not perfect, but it’s good.

It’s not perfect, but Tim wouldn’t ever want it to be.

He does save up for one thing, though, without Tobi’s knowledge. Just puts money away for it until he has what he thinks is probably more than enough and goes into town for ‘garden supplies’. He does intend to buy those while he’s there, but he’s not going in for them.

He gets a ring he thinks Tobi will like, heedless of the size because he knows Tobi won’t wear it on his finger. It’s in the way, there, and too easy to lose. Tim relates to the feeling, so he buys two chains as well… Just in case this goes right.

He buys the other supplies and he goes home.

He proposes to Tobi that very night and Tobi is crying when he says yes, and Tim is crying too by the time he puts the ring on one of the chains and puts it around Tobi’s neck for him.

They go to bed smiling and still sniffling and holding each other close.

It’s not perfect, but it’s  _ good. _


	8. Chapter 8

It is sweltering out here again.

The time of year has come when no matter how well you deal with the heat and the sun, you end the day with a sunburn and the need to wash your clothes to get the sweat out of them. It’s not at all different from this time of year the year before, or the year before that, really. Just as hot, just as long of a day.

Tim finds peace even in the horrible sweating and burning cheeks, because he is home and he has something to occupy his time with.

The garden is doing so well that he and Tobi can take days off when they need to, and they’ve been able to hire help to come in when they really can’t work on the garden themselves. They make enough money that saving up for anything has been a distant nightmare for months, but they save some of it anyway. Put it away for a rainy day or their next impulse purchase.

Tim wipes the sweat from his brow and catches Tobi’s eye from across the garden.

Tobi grins, cheeks burnt already and hair sticking to his face with sweat, and waves. And Tim, looking no better, grins and waves back.

Tobi giggles, and Tim feels just as in love as ever.

He pauses to adjust his necklace, smiling again just at the sight of his ring and the thought of the two sitting on Tobi’s ring.

That’s his  _ husband. _

It makes him giddy, still, to think about.

He’s married, he’s happy, and he’s not had a particularly bad day in weeks, though he does still have them and doesn’t expect not to. It helps those days that Tobi doesn’t let him stew in it―he gives him time, then takes him into the kitchen and bakes with him until he at least feels like talking, and then they talk.

He’s married, he’s happy, and he has less bad days than ever, and if you’d told him he’d have this one day, back before it happened, he’d have laughed in your face. But it’s happening, and he has this, and he’s at home and at peace.

He’ll fight to keep this, if it comes to that, but it never does.

He grins to himself, gets back to work, and thinks.

This, Tim thinks, is good.

This, Tim thinks, is worth everything he had to go through to get it.

This, Tim thinks, is what ‘happily ever after’ really means.

And, Tim thinks, he’s going to live out the rest of his happily ever after here with Tobi, and if he had to do it all again? He’d do it. He’d do it to end up here.

To end up happy, and healthy, and married and at peace with himself for the most part.

This, Tim thinks, is good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this all fairly quickly, after the first two chapters. In fact, I'd say I wrote all of it in the last 24 or so hours because (drumroll) it's my fiance's 20th birthday today!
> 
> Happy birthday, baby <3
> 
> And to anyone else who read this and left kudos, thankksssss


End file.
